Julian Nagelsmann has set up a kitchen control room to guide Bayern Munich while he remains away from the team after a COVID-19 positive test.
Assistant head coach Dino Toppmoller will lead from the touchline when Bayern host Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga on Saturday, having also stood in for the 4-0 win at Benfica in the Champions League on Wednesday.
Despite being fully vaccinated, Nagelsmann learned that the flu-like symptoms he was experiencing in Portugal were caused by coronavirus.
He said he feels "a bit weak" and is wary of getting in the way of the work being carried out by Toppmoller and fellow assistant Xaver Zembrod.
"Still, I am trying to take control if possible," said head coach Nagelsmann.
"In isolation, I have built myself a little analysis centre with a big screen, iPad and laptop. I have different technical abilities now, also when it comes to the scouting feed for the game.
"It looks like a big data centre, right in my kitchen so that I have a short way to the tea kettle. I am positive that we will have a good impact. For training rhythm, this is not so bad because we don't really have training right now."
With such a heavy game schedule, Bayern's players are only ticking over between matches, rather than going through major sessions on the training pitch.
Nagelsmann is optimistic of being back at his Bayern desk in a matter of days, and says his positive test came as a jolt, insisting he had been trying to stay out of danger.
"I think we are all being cautious basically. This is hard, you cannot always say 100 per cent where you get the infection from," Nagelsmann said.
"I haven't done anything illegal or been at this party in Berlin where you had 22 people positive. I wasn't there, as an example. Basically, you never know. I was also a bit shocked.
"I just thought that I had a flu like many people at that time. For vaccinated people like me, things get less restricted and then you can also get infected easier.
"Of course, I went to a restaurant last week but I don't know... I couldn't find out where I got it from. I don't think you can, this is really hard. The virus you have in your body doesn't come with a number that makes it trackable. That's just how it is."
Bayern head into the weekend with a one-point advantage over Borussia Dortmund at the top of the Bundesliga, winning six and losing just one of their first eight games as they seek a 10th consecutive league title.
Nagelsmann is in his first season with the club, having left RB Leipzig at the end of last season to take over from Hansi Flick, who left Bayern to become head coach of Germany.
Before Leipzig, Nagelsmann cut his teeth with Hoffenheim, so he misses out on a reunion on Saturday.
Between 2016 and 2019, Nagelsmann managed Hoffenheim in 116 Bundesliga games, achieving a points-per-game average of 1.65, comfortably the best record of any coach of the club to have taken charge of at least five top-flight games.
On Saturday, Bayern will be looking to avoid a second successive home defeat in the Bundesliga, having been beaten 2-1 by Eintracht Frankfurt in their previous game at the Allianz Arena. The last time they lost consecutive league home games was in 2001 under Ottmar Hitzfeld.
'He's just top level' – Havertz lauds new Bayern boss Tuchel
Kai Havertz hailed the impact Thomas Tuchel had on his career, with the new Bayern Munich boss having coached the Germany international at Chelsea.
Tuchel, who was announced as Bayern's coach following the shock sacking of Julian Nagelsmann last week, took charge of the Blues between January 2021 and September last year.
The German guided Chelsea to Champions League glory in 2021, with Havertz scoring the first-half winner in a 1-0 victory over fellow Premier League side Manchester City.
Speaking to The Guardian on Tuchel's influence, he said: "Tuchel gave me a different idea of football.
"Every detail counts, every centimetre, how you touch the ball, how you control, where you pass, which foot, movement, creating spaces: he's just top level.
"To come and win the Champions League in six months says it all.
"My brother and I used to watch every Champions League game and to hold the trophy with your family on the pitch was such a relief.
"I scored this goal, I can be happy. I made my childhood dream come true."
Chelsea remain in this year's competition after overturning a 1-0 first-leg deficit to Borussia Dortmund with a 2-0 home win at Stamford Bridge.
Havertz scored the crucial second goal from the penalty spot and his side now face reigning champions Real Madrid in the quarter-finals.
"The ambition is still there," Havertz said about Chelsea's Champions League aspirations this campaign.
"In the league, we are not very good and we feel for the fans but against Dortmund, the atmosphere was the best I have seen. You feel the excitement.
"The Premier League is big and winning it may be even more difficult but the Champions League is different. Hearing that anthem, playing at night, it's special."
Despite progress in the Champions League, Tuchel's successor Graham Potter sees his side sit tenth in the Premier League and 11 points off a top-four position heading into the final stage of the season.
Regardless of the pressure on Potter and the new singings brought in as part of an ambitious January spending spree, Havertz believes all of them will thrive at the club given time to develop.
"Potter is very good for Chelsea even though he gets criticism; in the changing room, everyone knows his qualities.
"Enzo [Fernandez] and [Mykhaylo] Mudryk have come for a lot of money and they're only 22, you know? You cannot expect them to be Neymar straight away. It's like me: it takes time."
Ten Hag pays tribute Ferguson for defining Man Utd ethos after HOF induction
Erik ten Hag hailed Alex Ferguson as the defining personality in Manchester United's recent history following his induction into the Premier League Hall of Fame.
The league confirmed on Wednesday that Ferguson and his former rival Arsene Wenger are the first two inductees of 2023.
During a remarkable 27-year managerial stint at Old Trafford, Ferguson took standards to an altogether different level and he arguably remains the benchmark.
He took charge in 1986, six years before the foundation of the Premier League, and went on to win the competition 13 times – that is nine more than any other coach or manager.
United are waiting for their first Premier League title since Ferguson's retirement in 2013, and Ferguson's legacy still lauds over every manager who arrives at the club.
Ten Hag is the latest to try his luck and recognises the influence held by Ferguson, which is acting as a guide for the Dutchman as he looks to bring the glory days back to Old Trafford.
"You feel it every day because he left a legacy and Manchester United is Alex Ferguson," Ten Hag told the Premier League.
"He set the highest standards, the highest values, and brought the winning attitude. He built that in the club… and that is the standard that you must face if you want to play for Manchester United or work for Manchester United.
"First of all, he knew when to rebuild and reconstruct a new team because he did it over two decades and every time he was successful. He did it with a balance of homegrown players and bringing big stars in.
"He got the best out of it, like working with Eric Cantona, working with [Ruud] van Nistelrooy, [Robin] van Persie, Wayne Rooney.
"That is huge if you are able to handle those personalities, but also to let them play as a team. That was always one of his most important qualities – that the team is always above any individual. It's difficult to construct one winning team. He did it so many times!”
Ten Hag was spotted having dinner with Ferguson in February before United played host to Barcelona in the Europa League.
At the time he spoke of how "committed" Ferguson still was to the club with his desire to help those who came after him.
Now, he is hoping to make such meetings more of a regular occurrence, such is Ferguson's wealth of experience.
"His experience is huge, so with all the knowledge he can help you with, he can," Ten Hag added.
"I'm really pleased that he wants to share his knowledge with me. It's great to talk and learn from him, and I hope we can do it more often."
After 2-0 victory over Aruba in Concacaf Nations League Sugar Boyz looking forward to next challenge
Having secured a spot in the CONCACAF Gold Cup preliminary round to be played in Miami later this year, St Kitts and Nevis national senior team, the Sugar Boyz are eagerly anticipating what comes next.
They earned their place in the preliminary round courtesy of a 2-0 victory over Aruba on Monday at the Warner Park Cricket Stadium in Concacaf Nations League action. Keithroy Freeman scored both goals for the Sugar Boyz to seal victory.
Though happy with the victory, Coach Austin Dico Huggins, believed the team should have scored more goals. “The opportunity was there for us to get more but that’s the nature of the game. We managed to get two goals and we are successful so we move on to the next leg in Miami, which will be in June. We have more time to prepare ourselves much better,” he said.
Now just one step away from making history - qualification to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, should they win their Miami – Coach Huggins expressed confidence in his team’s ability to get the job done.
“We are confident and we are looking forward to the opportunity to go out and display our talent and to let people know what St. Kitts (and Nevis) has and we can once more compete with the big boys,” Huggins said.
Meanwhile, Aruba’s coach Marvic Bermudez, said they were unable to nullify the long ball threat from St. Kitts and Nevis. “We saw the other teams in Group C and I told the guys the most difficult team in Group C is St. Kitts (and Nevis),” he said. “I told the guys we have a strong opponent so we have to be really prepared and I was right. St. Kitts is a real(ly) good team,” he said.
A draw will be held on April 14 to determine the Sugar Boyz’s opponents for the preliminary round of the Concacaf Gold Cup.
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